07/12/2021
🐶😁🪥 You ever met a dog who likes having their teeth brushed so much that they'll shove their face into your hand to say "I'M READY!"
It's possible with cooperative care!
This is not a tutorial, it's just a little clip of a regular tooth brushing session.
Prerequisite skills: event marker / bridging stimulus, targeting face to hand, targeting mouth to toothbrush.
When toothbrush time is over, I say "all done" and then say "search" to indicate that it's time to look/sniff around for food I have dropped 😋 this can be a stress relieving activity and is really helpful for Lola, who used to struggle with ending play/training sessions because she often just wants to keep going.
No force or restraint - once she indicates that she is ready by touching my hand, I lift her lip up to reach her teeth better, but I immediately let go if she pulls her head back, and she is always allowed to walk away from a cooperative care session whenever she wants to. (If she does I would take that as a sign that I am pushing too fast.) Sometimes she just takes a break to drink water and then comes back. Because she knows I will respect her saying "no," she is less anxious, and more likely to say "yes"!
Do you struggle with teeth brushing? Think I can do this with a cat? 🤔 If anyone is interested maybe I will try to make a tutorial showing the beginning steps! I'm still learning how to use this new camera and my room is a mess so it won't be too pretty lol, but I love sharing information about cooperative care 💞
